Jodie Foster
On swear jars, seal kisses and SpongeBob popsicles.
by Justin Clark
March 19, 2008
What's the message of the film?
Well, the connection with nature. The fact that, for a film like this, you don't need videogame characters and laser tag in order to have it be adventurous and interesting. But I think it's a message of self-reliance and of making decisions that are strong decisions, because they're what you know is right. And believing in yourself. Self-reliance is a big issue for young girls. It was a big issue for me. I don't know, maybe those days are over, but it was a big issue for me, even though I was born in the '60s. I still had the influence of my mom's generation that just did not believe that they could take care of themselves. They thought someone had to take care of them, and they were always looking for somebody to take care of them, because they were just not told that they could take care of themselves.
What's different about being a child actor now?
Oh, my gosh, there are so many differences. I don't know about child actors, but definitely adolescent actors and post-adolescent actors. That's a whole different world now than it ever was before. The intrusions and the visibility and being paid so much. We didn't have that then. And all of those things impact on your emotional well-being and your health. It's much harder to be a healthy young actor now than it was when I was young.
Can you relate to the character in the sense that she has a public persona and is not like that to herself, or some days you just don't want to leave the house?
Oh, no, I think she just doesn't want to leave the house. I mean, she's an author. She's not like a pop star or anything. I think she's scared. What are the psychoanalytic reasons? What happened to her as a child? I talked about that a little bit with the director. I was, like, "I don't want to start going into background and this and that." But I had this image.
"The sea lions were the best actors in the movie."
I don't why I decided that, as a child, she had red hair. She doesn't now, but as a child she did. I don't know if this ever happened to you, but you can swim and everything, but you don't feel like swimming or going in the pool, and the idiot uncle picks you up and throws you in the pool anyway. And it's such a mean-spirited thing to do. Just because they're bigger than you, they can throw you in. And it doesn't mean you can't swim or anything. It just makes you mad and it just makes you go, "Well, yeah, I'm going to go over there and read that book." And, I don't know. It was sort of an act of rebellion, in some ways, rather than an act of — "I can't do anything!" It was much more like, "Well, I'll show you." And then that turned into reclusiveness, but, in fact, it was an act of rebellion.
Was that a real seal that kissed you?
Oh, that was a real seal. I'm not even sure we used a fake seal. The seal could not physically go on the beach because the real seal would leave. So Sea World did not want to lose their million-dollar sea lions.
Were you comfortable with that?
Oh, yeah, they're amazing. The sea lions were the best actors in the movie. They were just amazing. They did everything they were supposed to do. It was just incredible. I mean, not only did he kiss me on the lips, but he'll hold the kiss until somebody says, "Okay."
So that whole edict about working with children and animals . . .
I love it. I've made a lot of movies with children and animals and I love working with them more, I think because there's a simpler process. If they don't want to throw the spaghetti again, they just don't throw the spaghetti. And there's no bribery, there's no guilt-tripping that's ever going to make them throw the spaghetti again. Once they've decided, it's just not going to happen. And there's a nice simplicity to that.
©2008 Justin Clark and Nerve Media
About the Author
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A recent graduate of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Justin Clark has written for L.A. Weekly, Psychology Today, Black Book, Architecture, Fuse, and The Fader, among other publications. He is currently researching a history of the American child prodigy, and writing a mystery novel set in Los Angeles. |
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